Quebecois VS French Speaker | Will I understand it? French Reacts to Canadian French

The first people who were being interviewed toned down their accents to make it more understandable because they knew they were talking to someone from France. That's why you noticed a difference in accents between the first and second video. If they had been talking to another quebecois, the accent would have been stronger.

The Acadian people of Atlantic Canada, also speak their own version of French.

My mother was from Quebec City and we grew up bilingual in the US. I can immediately identify Quebec French even if I am not close enough to understand words. The rhythm and the vowels are unmistakable.

Hi Marie, great reaction!!! I'm québecois from the Saguenay region about 200 Km north of Québec City. I worked in Montréal for 20 years and our respective accent is quite different. As for fearing to be unwelcome in Québec because you're from France, just say you're not from Paris, that will make a huge difference. Many of my friends have visited France in the past and Paris being the destination of choice, many were put off by the way they were treated. You said it yourself some time ago that Paris residents do not do justice to the rest of French people in your country. You're an excellent example of that! :-)

My mother was French Canadian. she went to University of Montreal and graduated from there. When my father moved her down to Florida, she had to learn English as you do. She would tell us children that being immersed in an English speaking land helped her to learn very quickly! She also told me that she found that there were times when she would speak with people from France and some of what they said and how they framed their ideas was different from what she grew up with. She never had any trouble with Cajun French she was able to pick that up pretty quickly. I think this because she had to pick up English the way she did! Have a blessed day!

I’m form Texas and the people in Quebec treated me great, but they had no problem telling me they didn’t think much of the US government. I don’t think they would have any problems with you at all . Come visit Texas sometime we’d all love you here also . 🤠

Salut Marie, just so you know, not all French-Canadians are Quebecois. I''m an Acadian from New Brunswick in the Atlantic provinces, which is Canada's only officially bi-lingual province. The "Cajuns" in the southern US are mostly the descendants of Acadians who were deported from this area by the British in 1775. The word "Cajun" is actually derived from the word "Acadian". Acadian French is quite a different dialect than both Quebec and Cajun French, it has a lot of "old French" terms in it. I've visited France a few times and even though my first language is English, I was surprised by how well I was able to understand French people and they me. It was always funny though when they tried to figure out where I was from, they knew I wasn't French and most thought I was Swiss. They were usually surprised when I told them I was from Canada because I don't speak the Quebec French. I fondly remember how patient French people were with my limited abilities in French and they seemed to appreciate the effort. You should check out the Acadian French, I think you'll find it quite interesting. Keep up the great work!

Keep in mind that most colonists to Quebec were from northwest France and there wasn't much immigration from France after 1750. If you and a Quebecois got in a time machine and went to Saint-Nazaire or Angers in 1750, you would probably be the one people thought had a strange accent 😀

I’m Nepalese living in the US for the past 15 years. I speak 5 languages including Spanish and I’m learning Italian now. I’m very interested in learning languages and I think I’ve a good ear. I can definitely hear the accent difference between metropolitan French and québécois French.

I was a French major in college, and I spoke Parisian French fairly well. A few years after college I spent 3.5 weeks in Quebec, and it took me most of that time getting to the point where I could comfortable understand what people were saying, and then being able to actually talk with them. It was frustrating at first, but lots of fun.

Bonjour Marie, je ne sais pas si ça été mentionné, le Québec compte 16 régions administratives. Il y as environ 8 différents accent régionaux. Tous ces accents sont basés sur une version modifiée du vieux français. La plupart des Européen francophones disent que les accent s'approche du français parlé (ou qui jadis était parler) dans la région de ST-Malo. Pour compliquer les choses, certains villages on des idiomes complexes où les mots sont a paine prononcer et où des mots anglophones ont été introduit et modifier de leur sens originale.

I have a dialect story. My grandmother was born in the late 30’s to very poor Franco-Ontario farmers just across the border from Quebec. She married a man from a very English area of Ontario and moved there to raise a family. I was born there many years later. I learned to speak Joual (a working class dialect of Quebec French) very young but never attended any schooling in French. As a result I speak a heavily accented, harsh dialect that is difficult for many Québécois to understand and nearly impossible for Europeans to comprehend. I have a hard time understanding metro French and am nearly illiterate (in French) although I plan to change that in the next year. I can understand the québécois in this video well but have a very hard time with European French and my wife who can converse well in Metro French (and is more literate in French in general) cannot understand me at all. I have the opportunity to study in French for the next full year. We’ll see how much of my dialect is left when I am done and how much my literacy improves.

Marie, I really enjoyed this production - was quite enjoyable. I, like a lot of your other followers, find you just elegant and charming. I'm an old guy, but I love listening to your English. Thank you. And, you have a great smile and way of saying things. :)

My Grandfather from Turin Italy also spoke French. As a translator during the war he was sent to Quebec and taught English by a Canadian. Growing up I had a very ethnic looking and sounding Italian/American family, but he stood out as the only one who spoke English with a French accent.

People from France speaking English and people from Quebec speaking English sound very different to native American English people...the way you describe how you feel about the Quebec accent might be similar to how we feel about British accents...it sounds elegant and charming and we love a British accent here in the States...great video!

J'adore ces vidéos qui mettent en évidence les différences linguistiques entre les Français et les autres. Ils perpétuent et contribuent à entretenir certains préjugés comme si la langue française appartient qu'aux habitants de la métropole. En tant qu'enseignant de langue, j'ai été confronté à un certain mépris... comme l'argument pour ne pas faire d'effort puisque ce n'était pas du "Parisian French". J'ai aussi eu à plusieurs reprises à enseigner à des enfants d'expatriés. Certains parents étaient vraiment gentils, aimables et ouverts d'esprit, pendant que d'autres, une minorité, rigolaient, se moquaient et affichaient une attitude condescendante. Lorsque ces derniers me faisaient répéter en affichant un large sourire... cela me faisait zire. Zire est un vieux mot dans le vocabulaire acadien... un archaïsme pour les autres. Pourtant, quand je parle avec mes collègues français, je n'ai aucun problème à les comprendre ni à me faire comprendre et il y a toujours une bonne entente. En général, les Français, les Belges et les francophones sont appréciés au Québec mais cela dépend de leur attitude et de leurs attentes. Après tous ces vidéos qui mettent en exergue la différence des accents, je ne sais plus si nous partageons la même langue... mais notre mode de vie et nos repères culturels sont totalement différents. Il est évident qu'il existe des différences d'utilisation, de prononciation, de lexique mais il n'y a pas de quoi à en faire un plat ni à fouetter un chat. J'écoute assidument TV5... les Suisses, les Belges et les Français ont tous un accent.

I am a Canadian anglophone. To me the French from France, Québec and Acadie are obviously different. Canadian versions of French have different sounds, for example a few vowels not used in Paris. Interestingly that is reflected when they speak English. Someone speaking English with a strong Québec accent sounds obviously different from a Parisian.

Ah, I love these videos. It makes me appreciate language more and more.

There are French speakers in Ontario - Franco-Ontarians. They have a different accent than the Quebecois. There is a large francophone population in Ottawa as it is the Capital and the seat of Government which is officially bilingual. Ottawa sits on the boarder of Ontario and Quebec. There are many francophones in Manitoba as well.

I speak Franglais parce que my French is pas bon enough, malheureusement! It's always great to hear you speak French, Marie. And I think you'd be very welcome in Canada.